HF 1419

as introduced - 79th Legislature (1995 - 1996) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

  1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to waters; establishing a Minnesota river 
  1.3             basin commission to coordinate clean-up efforts; 
  1.4             appropriating money; proposing coding for new law in 
  1.5             Minnesota Statutes, chapter 103F. 
  1.6   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.7      Section 1.  [103F.378] [MINNESOTA RIVER BASIN COMMISSION.] 
  1.8      Subdivision 1.  [ESTABLISHMENT.] There is hereby 
  1.9   established a Minnesota river basin commission for the purpose 
  1.10  of coordinating clean-up efforts on the Minnesota river and 
  1.11  achieving the goal of making the Minnesota river suitable for 
  1.12  fishing and swimming by the year 2005. 
  1.13     Subd. 2.  [DUTIES.] This commission is established for the 
  1.14  following purposes: 
  1.15     (1) coordination of comprehensive clean-up goals for the 
  1.16  Minnesota river by integrating the work plans of the 12 
  1.17  watershed joint powers organizations in the Minnesota river 
  1.18  basin, state agencies, and the University of Minnesota involved 
  1.19  in clean-up efforts and submit periodic river clean-up plans for 
  1.20  submission to the governor and the legislature; 
  1.21     (2) advising on the development and use of monitoring and 
  1.22  evaluation systems in the Minnesota river and the incorporation 
  1.23  of the data obtained from these systems into the planning 
  1.24  process; 
  1.25     (3) reviewing and commenting on the work plans of the 
  2.1   watershed joint powers organizations which allocate resources to 
  2.2   the river clean-up and provide such comments to the agency or 
  2.3   political subdivision and to the governor's office; 
  2.4      (4) conducting public meetings of the commission on at 
  2.5   least a quarterly basis at various locations on the Minnesota 
  2.6   river basin; 
  2.7      (5) conducting an ongoing information and education program 
  2.8   concerning the status of the Minnesota river, including an 
  2.9   annual conference on the state of the Minnesota river; and 
  2.10     (6) providing periodic reports and budget requests to the 
  2.11  governor's office regarding progress on meeting river clean-up 
  2.12  goals and future funding required for this effort. 
  2.13     Subd. 3.  [MEMBERSHIP.] The Minnesota river basin 
  2.14  commission shall be composed of the following members: 
  2.15     (1) a chairperson appointed by the governor; 
  2.16     (2) one appointee from each of the following departments 
  2.17  and agencies:  
  2.18     (i) pollution control agency; 
  2.19     (ii) the department of natural resources; 
  2.20     (iii) the department of agriculture; 
  2.21     (iv) the department of health; 
  2.22     (v) the board of water and soil resources; and 
  2.23     (vi) the University of Minnesota; 
  2.24     (3) four representatives selected by the governor from a 
  2.25  list of recommended appointees from the watershed district 
  2.26  located in the Minnesota river basin and from the boards of the 
  2.27  joint powers water planning districts located in the Minnesota 
  2.28  river basin.  No more than one member may represent the board of 
  2.29  any one subwatershed; 
  2.30     (4) a representative selected by the Minnesota Indian 
  2.31  affairs council to represent the constituent Native American 
  2.32  communities in the Minnesota river basin; 
  2.33     (5) one member of the house of representatives and one 
  2.34  member of the senate appointed by the speaker of the house and 
  2.35  the majority leader of the senate respectively.  The speaker and 
  2.36  majority leader shall confer so that the two appointees are of 
  3.1   different political parties; and 
  3.2      (6) ten citizen members selected by the governor who may 
  3.3   apply for membership through an open application process.  The 
  3.4   citizen members should reside in different parts of the 
  3.5   Minnesota river basin and must include at least three members 
  3.6   from environmental or conservation organizations, three members 
  3.7   of agricultural organizations, one county commissioner, and one 
  3.8   city council member. 
  3.9      Subd. 3.  [TERM OF OFFICE.] Each member shall serve for 
  3.10  five years unless he or she changes residence to a location 
  3.11  outside the Minnesota river basin. 
  3.12     Subd. 4.  [EXPENSES.] Nongovernmental members of the 
  3.13  commission shall receive expenses in accordance with section 
  3.14  15.059, subdivision 6.  The commission shall expire on June 30, 
  3.15  2005. 
  3.16     Sec. 2.  [APPROPRIATION.] 
  3.17     $150,000 is appropriated from the general fund to the board 
  3.18  of water and soil resources for payment of the expenses of the 
  3.19  commission established by section 1 during the period from the 
  3.20  effective date of section 1 through the 1996-1997 biennium. 
  3.21     Sec. 3.  [EFFECTIVE DATE.] 
  3.22     This act is effective the day following final enactment.